Merry Christmas!

The Christmas season this year was a lot of fun and I think it will continue to get more and more fun every year. Camden was very excited about all the presents and even said, "All those presents are for me!" when he saw all the presents under the tree. We tried to help him understand that we give presents as well as receive but I'm sure that will take a while to truly sink in.

We went to my mom's house in San Antonio from Wednesday-Sunday. The boys and I were going to stay longer but they got sick and I wanted to bring them to the doctor. :( They are both fine - just colds - but Camden has a bad cough that I wanted checked out. Camden didn't get sick until sometime after his first birthday. Poor Hudson has already had several colds. I guess he's building up immunity now. :) Anyway, the time at my mom's was fun for the boys and busy as well! The day before Christmas Eve we went to the Riverwalk to eat at Pat O'brien's then went on a boat ride. The river is so pretty with all the lights. They boys both loved looking at everything and riding the boat. I hadn't been to the river in years, despite living in San Antonio and always going back to visit my mom. I think I ate more over the weekend than I have all month. We always have a big Christmas Eve seafood dinner and if you know my family its always the more people (and food) the merrier. On Christmas Day we got up early with Hudson (he decided to wake up at 6:15 then take a nap all through present opening) but didn't open presents until after 8 when Camden woke up. It was fun watching him open presents but I was ready for it to be done because it took a really long time. lol. Then we had him help open Hudson's presents. By this time it was getting late and we all needed to get ready because Mike's family was coming for the day from Austin. My mom and brother made lasagna for dinner (with homemade sauce and meatballs on the side!) so they had lots of preparation to do. When Mike's family got there we did more present opening. And then some more with my aunt and cousins. It was a whole day of gifts! Camden couldn't have been happier. :) I think we were all exhausted after all the celebration but it was a lot of fun! We really talked up Santa this year so Camden knows that he comes down the chimney ("chimdey" as he says), eats cookies and milk, and brings the presents. He loved reading all of his Christmas books throughout the season. Hudson loved his new toys as well and tried to help open his presents when his brother let him. They each got a lot. One of their big together gifts was a play kitchen, which we had to leave at my mom's for now due to space. Camden got a police car, ambulance, and fire truck set (the police car is what he asked for from Santa), books, a Thomas the train toy, drumsticks (from Uncle Zac, of course), a tool set, and many, many other gifts. Hudson got some neat toys, cute clothes, and some books. Mike and I got good stuff too! Everyone loved the presents we gave them, too...success!
Now we are home and I'm going to try to reorganize my house. I started with the kitchen today. I'm cleaning, rearranging things around on the countertops, and then hopefully switching some things in cabinets around. I guess I get tired of things where they are and need a change. I'm going to do the same in other rooms. I'm going to try to declutter and organize my house one room at a time.



Camden loved to help bake this year.  He got to lick the spatula for the first time!  Yum, chocolate!  And please excuse the t-shirt and underwear - ever since potty training he doesn't like to wear pants when we're at home.

My happy baby! 



At the Riverwalk.



My best attempt at a picture of the boys in their matching Christmas outfits.  They wore them to church on Chrismtas Eve.

He looks like a little teddy bear in the outfit that Aunt Marcy gave him!  So huggable!

Forgot something...

Hudson has one tooth already that came through about a week ago and another on it's way in!

6 Month Update (at almost 7 months)

Hudson will be 7 months in a week!  Where did month 6 go?  (I sound like Camden...his favorite question is "Where did the _____ go?"  He usually asks this when I say a word he doesn't know.  I think it's his way of asking what the word means.)  We had Hudson's 6 month appointment yesterday, a little late.  I usually have his shots separated but decided to go ahead and have them all done this time.  I'm not sure why, I think it just seemed best, and the doctor talked me into it.  lol.  He got four shots (including the flu shot) and one oral vaccination.  He did well though.  He cried while the shots were being given but calmed down as soon as I picked him up.  He surprises me sometimes with how laid back he is.  I never thought he would be at all laid back.  He still is high-maintenance about certain things but he's a tough little guy.  We saw a doctor we hadn't seen before because the boys' regular doctor was out all week.  I was nervous when they told me that because you never know if you're going to "click" with a new doctor but I really liked him!  Very different opinions and advice than our regular doctor but he was very knowledgeable and good with the kids.  I didn't feel rushed at all, even with my list of questions.  You'd think I'd know the answers to all my questions the second time around but its amazing how much I forget!  He will be a good choice when our doctor is not in the office.  Hudson weighs 19 lbs 2 oz and is just about 27 inches long.  He has started to wear some 12 month clothes.  He doesn't even fit into 9 month pj's anymore and has to wear 12 month jeans with the legs really rolled up because he has such a pudgy tummy. :)

We are all fighting colds right now.  It seems like everyone we know is sick or has just gotten over being sick.  Luckily Camden and Mike seem to be pretty much over it.  Hudson seems to be less congested too.  I am not but hopefully it will go away soon.  Hudson let me sleep more than normal last night so I'm hoping he continues that so I can recover!  It's hit or miss.

We leave Wednesday for my mom's for Christmas.  Camden is really excited about it this year.  He's looking forward to going to Nonni's house and for Santa to bring him presents.  He keeps telling us that he wants a police car from Santa so we made sure that is going to happen.  I do know one thing - he and his brother have been very good this year because Santa is bringing them a lot of cool stuff!

This was taken a few weeks ago.  I went into Camden's room to wake him up from his nap and this is how I found him.

One More Pic...

I forgot this one and I love it! It's from Hudson's baptism.

Thanksgiving Week

We were away for a whole week this year for Thanksgiving! We spent most of the week in Austin at Mike's parents' house. The Saturday before Thanksgiving was Warrior Dash - a 5K with obstacles - that Mike and my brother did. Also during the week we went to the Austin Zoo and Zilker Park. Camden got to feed the animals at the zoo and ride the train at the park. It was a lot of fun. We got to see a childhood friend of Mike's and his wife. It's always nice meeting up with them. On Thanksgiving Day, we went to a park in the morning to meet up with a friend of mine who I used to work with. Her kids are almost the same age as our kids - 4, 2, and 7 months. It has been over a year since we've seen them. The kids had fun playing and we had a great time catching up. After the park Mike's grandparents and uncles from College Station came into town and his grandma from Austin came over. They loved spending time with the boys. Camden found some new friends in his great-uncles. They love kids and played with him all afternoon. All the food was yummy and I think I ate leftovers for every meal for the next two days. lol. I made pumpkin pie as usual as well as my mom's stuffing recipe for the first time. It turned out pretty good, but hers is better. :)

Friday after Thanksgiving we drove to San Antonio to my mom's. Our good family friends' son (my brother's best friend), his wife, and baby were in town and we wanted to see them. We hadn't seen them in 4 years since their wedding! Wow! It was great to meet their baby (15 months) and see them again. Friday night there was a party at their parents' house. I saw some people who I haven't seen in at least 10 years, if not more. Kids I used to babysit, old friends of my brothers and my parents...very strange. It was nice seeing those people again but it made me feel really old. :) Camden had a ball playing with all the new toys that were there. So much so that we stayed way past his bedtime and he had a complete meltdown when it was time to leave.

Camden loved feeding the goats.  They actually started fighting over which one was going to get the food!  We stayed back for that one.



Llamas are weird!  Their lips separate to take the food from your hand.  

Daddy time!

Riding the Zilker Park train.

My little cutie

Playing the zylophone...watch out Uncle Zac!

Just chillin'.

What is going on?

Warrior Dash

Hudson's Baptism

Hudson's baptism was on Nov. 7th. It was a beautiful, sunny day which was great for pictures. It was a really fun weekend. My mom and brother came into town and so did Hudson's Godparents - Marcy and Alex. They live in Dallas but are about to move to D.C. for 6 months then to Bolivia so it was great to spend a weekend with them before they leave. We might see each other again before they leave the country but I got them all to myself this weekend. :) During the baptism, Hudson was very well-behaved. He didn't cry when the pastor held him, when the water was poured over his head, or even when the pastor held him up for the church to see. The look on his face was priceless though. :) We kept Camden with us for the first part of the service and through the baptism, then took him to the nursery. Hudson usually goes to the nursery too, but I just put him in the sling and he took a nap.

"Um, Mom?"



Jason, our wonderful Pastor

Godparents - Marcy and Alex.  I love that Alex is looking so lovingly down at Hudson. :)

Camden was crying about having his picture taken.  Hence the mad face.